THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
By Nefeli-Anna Tatsi
Munich-based music producer and musician TonyB Gaskyani started the summer season by releasing his first personal EP “New Age”. The title is his fresh start into the German music industry. His EP marks the beginning of a transformation from successful beat maker and music-producer to solo musician and a performer. As a Nigerian born and raised artist, he understands music as a way of life.
Much of TonyB’s songs are a mixture of self-development, empowerment and energetic dance vibe. TonyB raises his voice for the ones with low self-esteem and gives them confidence through his powerful lyrics. Everyone needs his songs in their summer playlist. His sound quality has not been left in question by his EP since he delivers as a sound engineer and a music producer for most of his songs.
TonyB’s fresh summer EP hides a lot of thought-provoking messages. “Fake Friends” is written as an open invitation to ask ourselves who our real friends and supporters are in our lives. Friendship as a source of love and uplifting inspiration is important in everyone’s life.
I interview TonyB about his song “Fake Friends”:
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What is the meaning of the first track “Fake Friends”?
TonyB Gaskyani: Fake Friends is a song inspired by many things I’ve noticed in my surroundings. Not everyone is automatically your friend just because they are friendly to you. I observed a strange definition of friendship in many people. For me, friendship is mutual acceptance, both of us should accept our weaknesses and our strengths. The whole idea of friendship is that we can rely on each other. I tried to portray this in my song by letting the people reflect on the fake friends they had or still have in their surroundings.
Before listening to the song, I thought that only wealthy people have fake friends.
TonyB Gaskyani: No. Poor people have fake friends too, because it’s very hurtful that ‘poor’ people, who are supposed to protect and support each other, let each other down when things get tough. This is the reason I say that they think we have no sense or that we don’t know what they’re doing. But some just look away and protect themselves because friendships can end and sometimes very painfully.
How would you describe your music to someone who has not listened to it before?
TonyB Gaskyani: My music is a fusion of so many elements, but above all my music is healing! The other day in the park, I met a woman who told me after listening to my song “Ifunanya (Lovebond)” that the song grounded her. After a very stressful and bad day, my music created a very good vibration, and a reconciliation between herself and her spirit and also her being was made possible. Those were her words! It was a very magical moment for me as a musician. It was an absolute AHA moment in my time in Germany, because I could feel the energy of my music. That’s what I call healing!
What influence does your knowledge of the Igbo and your culture have on your music production?
TonyB Gaskyani: Big influence because when I think about the Igbos before I make music, it creates a kind of mood because music is about vibes. No matter what music you make, no matter how you sing, what style of singing you have, what intonation, it has to start with the vibe because people want to adopt a certain kind of rhythm. That’s why there are different kinds of genres in music. So for me, when I think of Igbo, it’s kind of a traditional starting point for the music. Then I try to create what other people need to hear or understand, and sometimes I mix Igbo with English in some attempts because I want people, even if they don’t understand all the lyrics, to at least have that kind of in-between thing between Igbo and English. So that’s what I do. I mean, culturally, I have come to understand that music has no enemy. Music travels beyond language barriers.
What is your favorite song in your EP?
TonyB Gaskyani: I like all my songs, but “I don’t care!” has a special place in my heart because it’s my life story. I wrote it based on my experiences and my past. No one funded me and I made my decisions alone and I became the man I am proud of today. I now try to use my story to inspire other people. Having self-love helps in the tough situations, but I also believe in communal love, family love, charity, call it what you will. The power of altruism never lets anyone down, even in great difficulties. That’s exactly what the song is about. Even though I have understood what self-love is, I still care about my mother, my siblings, my friends. I have my limits and I show them, but I still care about them because my community and altruism are central to my life. So, it’s kind of a song that’s good for people who are trying to understand the connection between self-love and altruism. The two can coexist.
What is the exact meaning of Ifunanya?
TonyB Gaskyani: The Igbo word ‘Ifunanya’ would mean love bond in English. Just like I sing in the song, the love that binds two people together is very strong when both are ready for honest and pure love. Even with their ups and downs, even with their differences that should have led them to separate paths. Their love has become a bond, an elastic-band between these two people. Sometimes the elastic goes in a different direction. Or does it? This one goes to the left and the other to the right. At some point they come back together, and so it becomes a band. That’s why I call it a love band or bond. And that means love. And if you listen to the song, you can hear the rise saying: kwe, kwe, kwe, kwe. It’s like something that’s so strong, like a super glue, something that sticks so much that it’s very difficult to put a barrier between the two. This generation or the next generation often interpret love as infatuation because love is something that many people have never experienced. Love is a mutual decision to be there for each other and to share your life with the other person.
So, what is your goal? Where do you want to be as an artist in 5 years?
TonyB Gaskyani: I’m already where I want to be in the music industry. I’m producing music every day and getting to know new producers and artists. That’s my dream and that’s what I’m doing right now! It depends on what people think about how they define an artist. For me, my music has resonated with the right people, and the right people have given me their feedback every time they play the songs that it resonates with them. That’s the bottom line for me. But if, as providence would have it, I win a Grammy or become a good African singer who is the most recognized, then that’s good too.
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I met TonyB at the Iwalewahaus – Museum for contemporary and popular African art – in Bayreuth at the opening concert of the exhibition ‘Beyond the Gaze’. (https://www.iwalewahaus.uni-bayreuth.de/de/index.html) His deep voice and thought-provoking lyrics left me speechless. After listening to TonyB for the first time, not only that he brings the fresh Nigerian aesthetics to Germany, he also manages to inspire people to stop procrastinating. He urges people to be up and doing.
TonyB encourages people to think about the friendship and relationships they spend their time on and to feel which is the core of our human vulnerability and existence. As a man full of surprises, he went one step beyond Germany and brought his original sound to shine in Greece.
TonyB Gaskyani collaborated with Jerome Kaluta, an Afro-Greek TV presenter and singer. Together, they created a cool feel-good song in Afrobeat rhythm with English and Greek lyrics. The vibe of the track makes one travel from West Africa to the hot Greek islands and back to Germany. “MONO ESY” is the title of the song that stays in your mind for the whole day. “Everyday we dey celebrate o” is meant to energize the listeners and bring Afrobeat and the melodic sound of Greek language together.
TonyB connects the African diaspora across the European borders and shows the creativity and brightness of his sound in the music video.
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